Movable shelf construction



I MOVABLE SHELF CONSTRUCTION I Filed Dec. 29,1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O O O O O O O O OOOOO I A iiorneys Patented Feb. 13, 1940 j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,190,244 MOVABLE SHELF CONSTRUCTION John Wade Row Berrien Springs, Mich. Application December 29; 1938, Serial No. 248,306

2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shelf constructions and more particularly toa novel shelf construction forinstallation in commercial refrigerators. a

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a shelf construction wherein'the shelf is divided into front and rear sections and wherein the forward section can be moved rearwardly by actuating the rear section, thus eliminating the necessity of the shop-keeper reaching clear across food stuffs on the shelf to reach articles on the forward portion of the forward section. a v

' Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the reader of the following specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional view through a commercial refrigerator showing the shelf construction in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the shelf with the rear section elevated.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the shelf construction showing the rear section elevated.

Figure 4 isa section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section on theline 5-5 of Fig ure 2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged detailed sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts, it can be seen that the numeral 5 generally refers to a conventional refrigerator having the multiple pane front window 6 and the multiple panelled slide closures 'l at the rear side thereof.

On the inside of the rear wall 8 is the cleat 9,

- while on the inside of the front wall I!) is the cleat H, these cleats serving to support the novel shelf construction generally referred to by numeral I2. p i

e The shelf consists of the elevatable rear section !3 and the slidable forward section 14.

The shelf includes the supporting side walls I5-|5, the upper edge portions of which are channeled in opposed directions as at I6to= form trackways for therollers I] by the brackets I 8 on the underside of the slidable section l4. 1

Furthermore, the underside of the forward slide section l4 carries a rack adjacent each longitudinal edge portion thereof and when the section l4is in full forward position, the rear end portions of'the racks H] are barely engaging portion of the corresponding edge of therear extending from this plunger which are carried the gear wheels 20. These gear wheels 20 are on the ends of the shaft 2| and the ends of the the link arms 24, each of which is rockably se- 5 cured as at 25, to the corresponding side wall I 5 and further pivotally connected as at 26 to the rear end portion of the shelf section IS.

A link 21 is providedat each side of the shelf construction with one end of each pivotallycon 1 nected as at 28 to the forward end portion of the corresponding side wall I while the other end is pivotally secured as at 29 to the forward end shelf section I3.

The rear end portion of the shelf section l3 has'the handle 30 rising therefrom, so that by lifting upwardly and moving the shelf section l3 forwardly, the shelf section l3 will describe the are shown in Figure 2 while the gear headed link 2 members 24 will act on the pinions 22 and gears 29 with the result that the forward section I4 is fed rearwardly to a point shown in Figure 2 so that articles of food stuff thereon can be easily reached by the shop-keeper.

As can be seen in Figure 2, the ends of the side walls l5 are provided with the short extensions 3| for resting upon the cleats 9 and H.

To snub or retard the action of the section, itcan be seen that extending from the cross member 32 at the forward ends of the walls. I5 is the cylinder 33 in which operates the plunger 34 and 34 is the rod 35' which as shown in Figure 4 is pivotally connected by ears 36 to the rear end portion of the sec- 35.

tion 14.

. While the foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, ,size and materials may be resorted to without departing 40 y from the spirit and scope claimed hereinafter.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. A supporting structure comprising a pair of 5 article supporting sections, means for supporting the sections on a common plane, a gear, a rack on one of the sections meshing with the gear, "swingable leg members swingably supporting the other section, one of the ,leg members provided with a gear segment, a pinion carried by the ear with which the gear segment meshes,- and a handle on the last-mentionedsection.

2. A shelf structure comprising a pair of article-supporting sections, a support for the of the invention as invention, what is article-supporting sections; leg members for one of the article-supporting sections pivotally connected to the said section and to the support, and drive means on the support operatively connected with one of the leg members and constructed and arranged whereby when the last mentioned article-supporting section is lifted and shifted in a direction over the other section, the said other section is moved to a. position substantially where the lifted section was originally located.

JOHN WADE ROW. 

